


Bake-Off

by raiseyourpinky



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Accountant Castiel (Supernatural), Baking, Castiel/Dean Winchester First Kiss, Christmas, Dinner Date, Enemies to Lovers, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Mechanic Dean Winchester, Rivals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:55:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27926356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raiseyourpinky/pseuds/raiseyourpinky
Summary: Last year, Castiel Novak arrived in town and participated in the annual Christmas bake sale alongside Dean Winchester. Dean has hated him ever since. This year, both of them are competing for the Best Baker Award.And it's personal.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 6
Kudos: 141
Collections: Destiel Instagram One Shot Contest - December 2020





	Bake-Off

**Author's Note:**

> This was so much fun to write.

It was a universal truth that Dean was an excellent baker.

So much, in fact, that Dean’s baked goods—most of them pies, thank you very much—were sold out before the end of the night during every annual Christmas bake sale.

The same couldn’t be said for the obnoxious, snobby, trenchcoat-wearing asshole named Castiel Novak. Last year, the rich guy moved into town. Dean never understood what someone like him was doing in Lawrence, Kansas of all places. He clearly belonged in some ridiculous Los Angeles mansion among his fellow wealthy people. Not here, so close to Dean.

Still, Dean had had some competition with Castiel bringing his fancy cupcakes to the bake sale and nearly selling out around the same time as Dean. It wasn’t fair, though, because kids and teens gravitated towards cupcakes, whereas his pies mostly attracted the wandering couples and older people. But Dean didn’t care because he knew his pies were a thousand times better than any cupcake that guy could ever make.

Due to last year’s bake sale, Dean had avoided Castiel like the plague for the entire year. It wasn’t easy, especially because Dean was the town mechanic, and Castiel had a car that refused to work, so Dean had fixed it up more times than he should have had to. He’d already told the guy to just buy a new one. Surely, he could afford it. The car was a piece of trash—an old and rusty white Pontiac. It was the only thing that didn’t match his rich boy personality. But Castiel had simply arched an eyebrow, grimaced, and told him to stay out of his business. So, Dean had kept his mouth shut, fixed the car yet again, and handed the stupid blue-eyed man his stupid invoice.

When Dean had to file his taxes at the beginning of the year, he found out that Castiel was the new tax accountant at the local tax office. Dean had simply rolled his eyes and let the guy do his work, avoiding sharing more than a few words with him. Fortunately, Castiel seemed just as repulsed by Dean as Dean was by him.

They hated each other. The entire town knew that. It was impossible not to. Sometimes people worried when they were alone in a room together that they’d end up fighting one another to the death. Dean had always found that amusing. Dean wouldn’t kill the guy. Would Castiel kill Dean, though? That was an entirely different question. Frankly, Dean wasn’t sure why Castiel hated Dean. Castiel was the outsider. He was the one who’d tried to outsell Dean at the annual bake sale downtown. He was the one who had always been an asshole.

This year, Dean was even more thrilled about the Christmas bake sale. Charlie had announced that all bakers would be participating in a competition to see who the best baker in town was. There would be judges and everything. Dean knew he would win, of course. His pies were finger-licking good. Everyone knew that. Dean just hoped that Castiel didn’t show his face at the bake sale this year.

If he did, there would be trouble.

***

Castiel _showed his face_ at the bake sale this year. Dean couldn’t believe his eyes. He stared at Castiel’s display of fucking pies, and Dean nearly had an aneurism. Holy hell. Castiel really did that.

This was personal.

Dean glared at Castiel from across the street since their tables were on opposing sidewalks. Castiel held Dean’s gaze for a long moment, and then he shot him a smirk. Dean raised both eyebrows in return. Castiel simply winked, shrugged, and looked away.

Dean felt breathless. It was all the anger needing to find a way out. Dean hated the bastard. All he wanted was to walk across the street and, like, punch him in the mouth because that mouth was stupid just like the rest of him. Just like those blue eyes. Just like his messy hair and growing stubble. Dean couldn’t stand the guy.

“Hiya, Dean.”

Dean peeled his eyes away from Castiel, who had long ago stopped paying attention to him, and turned to look at Charlie. “Hey, Charlie.”

Charlie was holding a clipboard and a pen. “Just wanted to see what you’re entering to the competition. I figured pie was a given, but you never know.”

Thankful for the distraction, Dean smiled and nodded. “You know me. Pie as always.”

“Which kind would you like to enter officially? We can only do one taste test per baker.”

Dean inspected his pies for a brief moment before he made up his mind. “It has to be apple. Mom’s favorite.”

Charlie grinned, writing down on her clipboard. “Apple it is.”

Before Charlie walked away, Dean stopped her. “Hey, Charlie, what’s that asshole entering for the competition?”

Charlie looked over her shoulder at Castiel, who was mindlessly scrolling through his phone. Then she turned back to Dean. “I couldn’t believe that he made pies, too. Ohhh is that why you were staring at him like you were plotting his murder?”

Dean rolled his eyes. “You know I can’t stand him.”

“Yes, Dean. I know. But you don’t even know him. Maybe you should give him a chance.”

Dean waved the thought away. “So, what did he enter?”

Charlie read her clipboard. “Uhh, cherry pie.”

Dean smirked this time. “That’s great. My apple pie will definitely win.”

“It’s just a silly little competition, Dean." Charlie chuckled. "The prize is a free meal at the Roadhouse. It’s not really something to get worked up about.”

“It’s not about the prize, Charlie. It’s about honor.”

Charlie clapped Dean’s shoulder. “Alright, I’ll see you in a bit. Sell your pies and stop making googly eyes at Castiel.”

Dean scoffed. Yeah, right. Dean had other things to worry about other than stupid Castiel.

***

The sun had gone down, and Dean was almost out of pies. Well, except for the apple pie he’d saved for the competition in a couple of hours. Dean had gotten so busy selling his pies that he hadn’t noticed the person standing at his table.

“Hang on a second,” Dean mumbled, putting away the cash in his fanny pack. When Dean finally looked up, he saw Castiel, hands dug into the trenchcoat pockets.

“Hello, Dean,” Castiel said with a cheerful smile.

“What do you want?” Dean asked, narrowing his eyes.

“I thought I’d come by to say hi,” Castiel said, as though it was obvious.

“You said hi already. You can go now.”

Castiel titled his head to the side and it was definitely _not_ endearing. “Are you upset with me?”

“Am I—hell yeah I am! You baked pies, man. Pies are my thing. What the hell?”

Castiel walked around the table and squatted down beside Dean, lowering his voice. “I know pies are your thing, Dean.” His voice had gone soft like Dean had never heard it before. Castiel leaned even closer, so close that Dean could feel his warm breath on his cheek. “I did it to piss you off.”

Dean gaped at Castiel, dumbfounded. Meanwhile, Castiel offered him another smile as he stood and retreated back to his table.

 _That fucking asshole_.

The rest of the afternoon went by with countless glances exchanged between Dean and Castiel across the street. It had become sort of a game for Dean. He kept staring because Castiel kept staring, and then he stared some more just to see if the game was still on and, apparently, it was. Castiel seemed amused by the entire thing, sometimes chuckling to himself as he kept eye contact with Dean. At one point, Dean simply rolled his eyes at Castiel to let him know what a dick he was and Castiel rolled his eyes right back.

When the competition rolled around in the evening, Dean had sold out of everything except his one apple pie. But then, so had Castiel. He had a single cherry pie on his table.

Dean waited for the judges to come by and give his pie a taste. The judges were Ellen Harvelle, Meg Masters, and Bobby Singer. Dean worked with Bobby, and regularly patronized Ellen’s diner, but he didn’t know Meg from Adam. On the other hand, Dean knew that Castiel and Meg had been close friends ever since he showed up in town. Either way, Dean wanted the judging to be fair and square. When he won, he wanted it to be because he’d baked the best pie, not because some of the judges were his friends.

The judging went on for a while with there being around twenty bakers in the competition.

In the end, Dean waited anxiously for the winner to be announced. On the other side of the street, Castiel looked just as anxious, which was kind of nice to see for a change.

Once the judges made their decision, Charlie stood in front of the bakers to announce who’d won the Best Baker Award on the first competition ever.

Charlie cleared her throat, smiling at all of them. “Guys, you’re all winners in my heart, but the judges have made up their minds.” She read the clipboard in her hands, and her eyes went wide. She turned to all three judges with her eyebrows raised. “Are you sure?”

Bobby threw her a look that said, _“Are you seriously questioning my decision?”_ which made Charlie shut up.

“Alright, then,” Charlie said. “It looks like we have some rule breakers here. Our winner, or should I say _winners_ , are Dean Winchester and Castiel Novak. Good job, you guys!”

“What?” Dean asked, nearly spitting out the hot chocolate that he’d just sipped. He turned his surprised glance towards Castiel, who was scrunching his nose at Dean. “What the hell?”

Charlie grinned. “Make sure to collect your free meals at the Roadhouse after this. Ellen makes the best burgers.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Ellen said with a smile.

“That’s all for this year!” Charlie said. “Thank you for competing. Come back next year.”

Dean couldn’t believe the results as he started packing up. He didn’t have much to pack up since he only had his unfinished apple pie to take home, but he put the top on it, grabbed his messenger bag, and grumbled as he walked towards his Impala. Halfway there, he heard his name called from behind. Dean immediately recognized the gruff tone from his co-winner.

“Dean,” Castiel said again, walking at Dean’s pace when he realized Dean wasn’t stopping. “Where are you going? I thought we could head over to the Roadhouse together.”

Dean snorted. “Yeah right. I’m not going anywhere with you. Enjoy the dinner alone.”

“Unbelievable,” Castiel said. “You are such a sore winner.”

Dean stopped in his tracks, turned to Castiel, and glared. “I’m not a sore anything. You weren’t supposed to win with me. There’s no honor in a co-win. What’s the point in that, anyway?”

Castiel rolled his eyes, and Dean noticed that he was also holding onto his pie. “Come on, don’t be like that. Let’s just go to the diner, grab some dinner, and head our separate ways. No harm, no foul.”

Dean kept quiet, considering.

“It won’t kill you to have one dinner with me, Dean,” Castiel insisted.

“You baked pies instead of cupcakes just to piss me off,” Dean said. “And you wanna just hold hands and jump off a cliff together now?”

Castiel threw his head back in laughter. “Is that what one dinner means to you? I think we have very different views when it comes to sharing meals with another person.”

Dean was not amused. “Shut up. If we do this, you’re gonna have to try to be less of an asshole. You got it?”

Castiel gasped. “Me? I’m not the asshole here, Dean. You’ve been an asshole to me from the start. Last year, when I moved into town, I tried introducing myself to you at the bake sale, and you just scoffed at me and barely shook my hand. Then you criticized my car time and time again, despite me paying you repeatedly for your services. And then you walked into my office to do your taxes and you wouldn’t even look at me! If I’m an asshole, Dean, it’s because I won’t just stand by and let you walk all over me.”

Dean furrowed his eyebrows, digging a hand into his jacket pockets since it was getting chilly. “Huh. I guess I never thought of it that way.”

Castiel held Dean’s gaze, a smile shaping his lips. “Does this mean you’re considering not being an asshole to me anymore?”

Dean groaned. “Just get in my car. I’ll drive us to the Roadhouse.”

“Thank you.”

The drive to the Roadhouse was mostly quiet. There was a tension in the car that Dean hadn’t expected, but it wasn’t entirely bad. Dean kept looking over to his right, finding it difficult to believe that Castiel was in his passenger seat. When he’d woken up that morning, he’d had no idea that this was how his evening would turn out.

Dean didn’t hate it.

At the diner, Ellen had reserved them a special booth by the window. Dean sat across from Castiel, setting his pie down. Dean and Castiel had both chosen to bring their pies inside with them to have for dessert since neither of them had had a piece all day.

“So,” Dean said after they’d ordered two cheeseburgers, fries, and sodas.

“So,” Castiel said, folding his hands in front of him.

“I saw that your friend Meg was a judge,” Dean said. “I bet that’s why you won with me. Otherwise, you would have lost, just like everyone else.”

Castiel smiled. “And here I thought you were going to make an effort to be nice for once.”

Dean sighed. “Force of habit. My bad.”

“You can’t really talk, though, you know,” Castiel said. “Bobby and Ellen are your close friends.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Dean licked his lips. “I’m sure you won fair and square.”

Castiel’s gaze flicked from Dean’s lips back to Dean’s eyes. It was quick, but Dean caught the movement. “Would you like to taste my pie?”

“What?” The question had been so abrupt it had taken Dean by surprise. He sat up straighter.

Castiel pushed his pie towards Dean. “Try it. Judge it for yourself.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

“Of course.” Castiel shrugged. “What do I have to lose?”

Dean picked up a clean fork. “You’re right about that.” Before digging in, Dean stopped himself. “Why don’t we warm them up first? I’ll ask Garth. You try mine, I’ll try yours.”

“That sounds good to me,” Castiel said.

After Garth returned with their burgers, Dean asked him to warm up two slices of their pies for them, and Garth did so gladly.

“Look, about your car,” Dean started. “I didn’t mean to sound harsh. I just think it’s a piece of crap that needs to be replaced.”

Castiel chuckled, chewing on a fry. “That’s honest. And your concern has been noted. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to replace it at the moment. I’m saving up for a new car, believe me.”

Dean frowned. “I thought you were rich.”

Castiel snorted. “What gave you that idea?”

“You’re all snobby,” Dean said. “You dress like you have money. You like fancy shit. I don’t know. I just put it all together.”

“If I had money, Dean, I probably wouldn’t be living in Lawrence, Kansas. No offense.”

Dean smirked. “The _no offense_ doesn’t really change the offense.”

“Yes, I’m aware. Except, I’m not rich. Well, my family is, but I don’t speak to them. Not since they disowned me for being gay.”

“Ouch,” Dean said, wincing. “That fucking sucks, man. I’m one of the lucky ones. My dad is gone, but my mom and my baby brother accept me for the big bisexual that I am.”

Castiel smiled. “You _are_ lucky.”

“I didn’t know you were gay,” Dean said after a moment. “That’s really cool.”

Castiel’s eyes went soft. “At least someone thinks so. Actually, that’s why Meg and I became so close. She’s known about my sexuality for years. We met at Pride years ago. I moved here to be closer to her, and hopefully other like-minded people.”

“Well, Lawrence isn’t bad. This town is full of awesome people. I know I didn’t make a good first impression, but I gotta be honest. You strolled into town in your fancy trenchcoat, with those blue eyes and your cupcakes. I was a little threatened by that. I thought I was the most handsome man in town until you came and took my title.”

Castiel bit his lip. “Interesting. So you were jealous of my looks all along?”

Dean shrugged. “I guess the truth is out now.”

“Since we’re getting along so well, I’d hate to disagree with you, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to. You’re the most attractive man I’ve ever seen, Dean.”

Dean actually blushed. “You’re just saying that.”

“I’m not.” Castiel held Dean’s gaze with serious intent. It was almost too much.

Garth chose that time to return with their warm pies. “Here you go, boys. Sorry that took forever, but I got a little busy back there.”

“It’s alright, Garth,” Dean said. “Thank you for doing this. Expect a big tip from me, buddy.”

“Aw, Dean, you’re the best.” With that, Garth was gone again.

Dean pushed the apple pie slice to Castiel, and the cherry one towards himself. “Let’s try this pie, Cas.”

Castiel smiled. “Let’s.”

Dean took a bite of the cherry pie, which already smelled delicious. The bite confirmed it. Dean hummed in contentment as he chewed, delighted to take another big bite. And then another.

“Slow down there,” Castiel said, chewing on his own piece.

“This is incredible,” Dean said. “I can see why you won.”

“I can see why you won, too,” Castiel said, taking another bite. “This is amazing.”

Dean and Castiel continued chewing, staring at each other for a few seconds before they both burst into laughter.

“We were being ridiculous, weren’t we?” Dean asked.

“We? I think you started it.”

Dean pointed his fork at Castiel. “Hey, shut it.”

“Yes, sir.”

Dean’s stomach did a flip at that. He swallowed hard. “So, um, since we’re trying not to be assholes to each other anymore, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to have dinner with me again? You know, just whenever.”

Castiel beamed. “Dean Winchester, are you asking me out on a date?”

Dean nearly choked on his water. “Uh, yeah, I guess I am.”

Castiel reached over the table to place his hand over Dean’s. “I’d love to.”

Dean blushed again because his body was traitorous and oh so obvious. “Awesome. I’ll pick you up so you don’t have to worry about being stranded on that piece of crap you drive.”

“Be nice to my car. It’s taking me places. Most of the time. And it’s making you a lot of money.”

“Perks of dating a mechanic,” Dean said, pointing his fork at Castiel again, “is that you don’t have to worry about paying me to fix your car anymore. Besides, I think you’ve paid enough for that already. I’ll take care of it from now on.”

Castiel widened his eyes. “Dean, you really don’t have to do that.”

Dean waved a hand. “It’s no bother, really. I love working on cars.”

Castiel stood and sat on Dean’s side of the booth before taking Dean’s face in his hands and pressing a kiss to his lips that tasted of apples and cherries. It was the tastiest, sweetest first kiss Dean had ever had. “Thank you, Dean. For everything.”

Dean grinned, licking his lips so he could taste the kiss again. “Thank _you_ for this pie.”

“I’ll make you another one tomorrow,” Castiel promised.

“Yeah?”

Castiel smiled. “Yeah. Perks of dating a baker.”

Dean leaned closer to Castiel on the booth, and they continued eating their pies, talking softly in the warm space of the diner.

Not bad for Dean’s first Bake-Off.


End file.
